Galaxy Stadium Deal: NIL Plans, and the Jones Legacy

Texas Tech Athletics announced a groundbreaking naming-rights deal with digital asset and data center leader Galaxy early Friday morning. Galaxy takes over as the name-rights holder for Jones AT&T Stadium, which will now be known as Galaxy Stadium. Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt met with local media to discuss the deal and the future of the Jones family name. “Galaxy has been tremendous over the last couple of months in our conversation. They’re excited to have their name on this football stadium. They’re excited about what lies ahead, and for us, it’s a continuation of the momentum that Texas Tech Football and Texas Tech Athletics has enjoyed over the last couple of years. Highlighted by the Big 12 Conference Football Championship Trophy we won last year in Arlington, and then our appearance in the College Football Playoff.” What happens to the ‘Jones’ name? Former Texas Tech University President Clifford B. Jones was an influential figure in both Lubbock and the growth of Texas Tech. Jones donated $100,000 to help build the stadium initially and has had his name on the venue since it opened in 1947. “President Jones was a tremendous figure here at Texas Tech, in Lubbock and in West Texas, and many would say that Texas Tech University would not be where it is today without President Jones, the third president of the university, one of the first appointed to the board of directors by the governor of the state of Texas for Texas Tech. He was a businessman in Lubbock before he became the president of our university, and at that time made a $100,000 gift toward the establishment of the football stadium here at Texas Tech. I would say this very simply: we have a guiding principle. We have four within Texas Tech Athletics that we commit to each and every day, and one of those is to honor our past and invent the future. I believe that’s what we’re doing with the naming of Galaxy Stadium. We will not forget the tremendous impact that President Jones had on this university, this community, this athletics department, or this football stadium, and we’re in conversations right now as to how we appropriately recognize President Jones and his impact on this stadium and this location. We will name some area within this footprint after President Jones. We have not decided on what that will be yet. We’re talking to the president’s office and the board of regents. Obviously, it’s something that is very important to Texas Tech; how we continue to recognize President Jones and his many contributions to the region, the city of Lubbock, and of course Texas Tech. So that recognition and celebration will continue indefinitely. However, college athletics is changing, and it’s necessary that as we look to the future, we continue to do everything that we can to define the future of college athletics right here at Texas Tech. This partnership with Galaxy is a necessary step for us to continue to lead the way nationally. So while this will become Galaxy Stadium, we will have appropriate space somewhere on the grounds here that will recognize and celebrate President Jones.” What is Galaxy, exactly? Galaxy is a data infrastructure company serving the AI industry. They handle backbone items such as storage and computing power, the hardware that chatbots and AI models rely on to operate. So what is Texas Tech’s goal in partnering with Galaxy? “Texas Tech is committed to being a leader in the state of Texas in the technology and AI space. As you talk to President Schovanec, as you listen to the Chancellor and our board of regents talk, it’s an area that we’re going to be the best in the state of Texas in, and the investment is going to be there. I think people will look at Galaxy as a tremendous partner for this region. I think we will continue to see them make contributions into our workforce and into our community, in ways that maybe we can imagine and in ways that we cannot imagine. But I know they’re going to be a committed, positive business member of this community and of Texas Tech University, and we look forward to working with them and getting to know them even more in the next 15 years.” How are Student-Athletes going to utilize NIL partnerships with Galaxy? The press release from Texas Tech and Galaxy mentioned student-athlete NIL opportunities. How will those work, and is there any current information or plans that can be shared? “You know, they’re ongoing, and as we look to the future of college athletics, we want to be innovative. We want corporate partnerships to be more than just a name on a scoreboard, and we’re continuing to brainstorm with them as to how we lean into our student-athletes, our name, image and likeness, and use our athletes’ voices to share with our community the investment and the various things that Galaxy is doing here. At the same time, I would state that we’re closely monitoring the Protect College Sports Act that’s being discussed in Washington, D.C., right now. From all indications, in a couple of weeks the Senate is going to take a vote on that act, and we’re also going to monitor what that does to the future of NIL, how that affects revenue share and the parameters that are in place. There’s so many changes going on in college athletics right now that we’re monitoring. We’re going to continue to be proactive, be at the forefront, be aggressive in how we invest in our athletics, how we invest into our student-athletes, how we acquire talent. Through watching how things evolve in Washington over the next couple of months, I think we’ll know how we can lean into this particular partnership in the NIL space to fully maximize the investment for our student-athletes as well as for our department.” Join the conversation with other Red Raiders on the Inside The Double T forum. Subscribe today to get the most in-depth Texas Tech sports and recruiting coverage. Follow us on X: @RedRaiderSports Like and follow us on Instagram @rrs_rivals & like us on Facebook.